Cherry Blossoms and Storms
by animeandtrash
Summary: Sakura is a tree nymph who one day catches sight of a boy who reminds her of storms and lightning and gains her attention. Not many can see her and he's no exception, no matter how badly she might want him to see her. So she contents herself to watching over him and his team as he grows up, hoping he will one day catch sight of her. (Kakasaku romance)
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE:

The Pink Cherry Blossom and The Boy Who Was A Storm

Kakashi was small about half the size of a fully grown human when she first saw him, really saw him, not just glanced down from her branch like she did on occasion to the beings that called themselves humans. Sakura had watched with glistening eyes as he walked by her tree that she was draped upon with his silver hair that looked like rain clouds; to her eyes he glowed like lighting and stars and looked like the sky itself. But that was not what made her search for him in the people who stopped by her forest. It was something about him that she could not put together in her head that made her want to know more about this child of man who smelled like the beginnings of a storm.

He passed by her everyday and she left with him on one when she had gathered the courage in her arms and strayed from her tree. He couldn't see her like most people couldn't. She was a spirit of a cherry tree that grew and lived and blossomed in this forest that he tread upon; there were few who could see her.

She followed him to a clearing where there were other children of man, a girl with purple marks on her skin that she learned was called Rin by a loud boy that wore goggles and went by Obito. The last was a man who had the sun for hair and glistened like little golden rays when he smiled (all teeth and eye squinting). Sakura took a seat on a high branch in a tree that stood on the outskirts of the clearing as she watched her boy that resembled a storm move his body so gracefully to avoid the sharp objects that the sun like man throw -he was called Minato she learned- that it reminded her of blossoms floating in a breeze, all graceful and fluid. Sakura had watched many humans over the long years that she had grown that she knew it was uncommon for them to move in such a manner. She found pleasure in the fact that he moved like water.

She could not help but follow after him everyday that he walked by although she never came too close to him to touch him. She had not touched a human in a very long time and she was scared and excited and _scared_ all rolled together in the hollows of her being. She soon found out after seating herself on a branch nearby that they were training to become stronger by the loud Obito who yelled at the top of his lungs that he would be "stronger than Kakashi" and that was the day that she had found her storm boys name. _Kakashi Kakashi Kakashi_ the named rattled and rolled and stuck in her head like the lighting that she had grown to be fond of.

It traveled with her as the sun dipped lower in the sky to when she followed him out of her forest and stayed with her as she stood at the edge of her trees and watched as his back disappeared. She stayed there long after the sun had slipped down completely and the moon started its journey up into the sky with only his name for company. _Kakashi Kakashi Kakashi_

* * *

Spirits like her did not keep track of time like humans did but Sakura knew that she had spent a significant amount of it watching Kakashi from afar by human standards. As she watched and learned more about him and the people that he called his team the more she came to want more. She wanted to talk to him and to touch him -would it be like touching lighting all sparks and tingles or would it be like standing under a gentle rain with softness and peace? _She wondered she wondered she wondered_ but most of all she wanted him to see her.

* * *

She stared with unblinking eyes -because she was a tree and what tree needed to blink?- at this boy that had taken root in her heart faster than she thought was possible, faster than she could have stopped it if she wanted to (she did not want to, she would not even know how to not want to). Kakashi had never once looked her way in the time she known him no matter how much she willed and wished and begged. 'But that was okay, that was okay', she thought to herself she was okay with that.

* * *

Sakura knows that Kakashi loves his team no matter how much he denies it to himself. She can see it in the way he edges (teases) Obito on, the way he glows brighter in her eyes when Minato compliments him (even though his face stays the same _she knows she knows she knows_ ) it is in the way that he relaxes in their presence and quiets down until his thunder is a low rumble.

One day when she watches them laugh at Obito who landed face first in mud after Kakashi side stepped away from his attack (it was okay because Obito laughed with them while wiping mud from his goggles) she is filled with so much emotions, more emotions than she's felt before, more emotion than she knows what to do with that she does something she has never done before. She gathers up her courage and breathes in deep then ventures down from her spot in her trees to the green grass that becomes greener as she steps on it. She works her way over to the group in firm even steps until she is so close she could reach out her hand and touch them. But instead she steals her spine and leans over to kiss Kakashi on his cheek. It is barely a brush of her lips to his skin but the effect is immediate, she can feel her power wash around him and envelopes him in its version of a hug and a kiss and a touch. An almost invisible cherry blossom mark grows behind his left ear exactly where she wants it to be. Before she can think of how amazing it was to almost touch almost kiss _almost almost almost_ she wanders over to Obito and kisses his cheek. A faint shiver runs through his body as her power wines itself in him, on him, around him. She does the same for Minato and Rin. They all have her cherry blossom mark behind their right ear. It is an extension of her power that she can give to them, not a lot but enough so that she can feel their presence even if they were not in sight and if they should ever be in trouble she could be there. Taking a step back, almost falling (it's hard but she manages to catch herself) she lowers herself to the ground. Her energy is spent, she has used so much, has given so much of herself so soon and so fast and the fact that she is not touching her tree (her other body, her other being, her other self) that it has left her weaker. She tunes back in to her humans that she cares about to hear Obito ask "if they felt something just now" that earns him three stares in his direction, a thoughtful look comes across Minato's face

"Something like...like content?" Rin asks but it's more to Minato then Obito. "I did feel something like that it was," Minato pauses looking for the right word "peaceful." then pauses again because that's not exactly right it's close but not what he thinks fits.

"It was like someone else was here...someone who was kind and gentle. It felt like they gave me a kiss. At least that's the sense that I got." oh _Kakashi Kakashi Kakashi_ Sakura thinks how does he know how to break and rebuild her thoughts of him into better ones? The others pause then nod at this explanation because that seems right to them that fits. There's a warm hush that follows then Minato dismisses them early and asks if they wanted to go eat lunch together. Obito grins and his defending shout of "yaaaaaaaa" is more then necessary to know his answer. Rin smiles and says that she "would like that very much, thank you Minato-Sensei." Kakashi only nods his head but Sakura can see in the area around him that he is _smiling smiling smiling._


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO:

A Sighting of Pink and The Blossoms of Red

Kakashi was on his way to the clearing that he usually goes to to meet with Minato-Sensei and the rest of his team when sees a flicker of pink in the corner of this eye. He pivots on his heel to face the direction of the sighting only to see nothing. His eyes trace branches to search for the unknown object or person or thing.

Kakashi makes his way to his team trying to toss the pink sighting to the back of his mind. He will have to talk to Minato sensei about it later. When he stands next to his team he hears Obito talking about how he'll be even cooler when he gets his sharingan. Kakashi snots at this. Obito hears him and whips his head around to glare at him and shout "The sharingan is one of the most prized possessions of the Uchiha. It can see and replicate any jutsu as well as see the spirit world." _Yeah yeah yeah_ Kakashi has heard all this befo-wait spirit world? Now that was interesting, this was the first time he has ever heard of such a thing yet something in in the back of his mind felt that it was familiar. Obito must to notice his lack of knowledge of this on his face and smirks. "Yea I heard some older Uchiha's talking about it today when I came here."

"Oh so you don't actually know anything? You just heard some senile old men talking?" Kakashi has always had a smart mouth when it comes to Obito. He knows how to dig and tear and rip apart his skin to find the pieces of himself that Kakashi hates. So he automatically fights and demolish any building that anyone -especially Obito- tries to build with their 'friendship'. He has no need for anyone or anything he just has to focus on his mission, his assignment, his duty. (even if _it_ _is lonely it is lonely it is lonely_ ) It was at this point that Minato-Sensei steps in and interferes before Rin has the chance to say anything.

"That's enough you two." His voice is friendly as he smiles but it Kakashi hears the fangs and teeth behind it . _stop fighting now or else._ Obito gulped and stayed quiet for once. "Thank you." a sigh "Now what Obito said was right in a way. There is a world layered on top of ours, over thousands and thousands of years it has intertwined so that both worlds cannot exist without the other. Just like our world with people there are beings that live in the other that most cannot see. That is except the ones with the sharingan. The beings that the sharingan can see can take human shape due to the influence of our world but make no mistake they are not human." Minato pauses in his speech to make sure he has their full attention, He does. "You know when you feel like someone is watching you but you turn and no one is there chances are that it's one of them. There used to be a lot of them but now there are very few. But even then there are few and stay hidden from us, most who could see them never do."

* * *

A couple weeks go by and Kakashi has not had the time to look more in depth about this other world that coexists with his own. It looks like he will not have time for a while yet either. He has his first mission with him as a chuunin. Currently he had to split up with Minato-Sensei with Obito who was insisting that they go rescue Rin from the ninjas who had her. He told him upfront that the mission came first and that she came second. Obito had given him a complete look of disgust and told him in the sternest voice he had ever heard his teammate use "Ninjas that abandon the mission are scum but the ninjas that abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Then he was off in a flash to go save Rin. His words left a pit in Kakashi's stomach. _No, no, no_ he thought _he was right he was right he was right_ his heart said back. The mission comes first. His father had not completed his mission in order to save his comrades and look where that got him. A death by his own hands, a hole in the ground, leaving Kakashi all alone with a bitter and twisted view of the world. A taste he could only define as resentment made itself known in the back of his throat. He could hear Obito's shout of being better than Kakashi, Rin's soft laugh and smile, Minato-Sensei's head pat when he'd done something good. He tried shaking his head to rid himself of the memories but it did him no good and he Obito repeating himself. ' _Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.'_ Damn now he had to go back with that thought he went rushing after Obito swearing under his breath about annoying ninjas that wear goggles.

He ends up arriving just in time to save Obito and starts to fight the ninja's ultimately having a knife cut across his left eye in order to prevent a sneak attack on Obito. Having seen this Obito awakens his sharingan and kills the ninja. Together they reach a cave where Rin is being held and they drive off Kakko, the ninja who had taken her, and release her from the genjutsu she was under. While they were busy making sure Rin was alright Kakko forces a cave-in, but with his eye being damaged Kakashi was having a hard time seeing the rocks and just as he saw a rock coming down to crush him he knew he did not have enough time to move out of the way. That was when he felt arms reach out and shove him roughly, sending him flying. For a minute he was not sure what had happened then he looks. _He wished he hadn't, he wished he hadn't, he wish he hadn't_. Because what he was looking wasn't real it must have been a joke, some sick joke because that could not be Obito under the giant rock that should have crushed him. _No no no_ his heart sang and leapt and beat in it's cage. _No_. He went over trying with all his might to move the rock. Why wouldn't the damn thing move? He went tumbling to his knees, he couldn't move it, he beat the ground with his fists. It should have been him, it should have been him, it should have been him. But it was not him. It was Obito. As if he knew what Kakashi was thinking Obito turned to him and said that he was going to give him his sharingan as the present he had forgotten to give him earlier. To replace the eye Kakashi lost helping him. God must have some sort of dark twisted humor to take his eye than give him another from the person that saved him. His friend his friend his friend. _Please_ his mind was screaming and wailing and shouting _please_. He wasn't even sure what he was pleading for anymore.

He left Rin with Obito after she transplanted Obito's eye into him to go and kill Kakko. With the new eye Kakashi got to see things so much more clearer then he thought was possible. He could see so much _more_. He killed Kakko with the help of his new eye or was it still considered Obito's he was so confused and _tired tired tired_. He made his way back to his team to say that reinforcement would becoming soon to kill them. Obito asks him something for the last time, "take Rin away and keep her safe" and who was he to tell the person who saved him, who gave him his eye, his friend no? So he takes a crying Rin away from a dying Obito as his heart breaks and tears and shatters. But he will keep his word, he will keep Rin safe even at the cost of his life. He finds that they are surrounded by the reinforcement. Kakashi almost finds it funny how alike Obito and him are, willing to give their lives for their teammates. _He will keep his word,_ he fights, _he will keep his word_ , he kills those that try to come close, _he will keep his word_. He fights and fights and fights until Minato-Sensei comes and kills the rest until it's just him and Kakashi and a crying Rin. In that moment Kakashi wishes for time to rewind back to when they were in the forest, to when they were training, to when Obito was alive and he did not feel like his heart had been torn into pieces so small that they would never to put back together. But Kakashi has learned that no matter how hard you wish you can't turn back time and people don't come back to life once they die.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE:

The Half Boy, A Rock and The Pink Tree

Sakura can feel something is wrong. It comes in the form of a bad taste in her mouth that lingers in the back of her throat. She is reminded that she has not seen her storm boy or the others in his team. That in itself was not all that unusual sometimes she would not see them for several rises and falls of the sun. However she felt that something was wrong so she reached out through her bond with her humans to see where they were. No sooner had she touched the marks in her mind that she was struck emotions she had never experienced before. It felt similar to when there was a massive storm and lighting kept striking closer and closer to her tree yet it was so much stronger and sharped. She did not like it and never wanted to feel it again. It was coming from her humans, it was something they were feeling she deduced. If everything humans felt were this intense she might start to regret connecting herself to them. Pushing the thoughts aside she focused on their location while gathering some power from its well that slumbered in the fibers of her tree to transport herself to where her humans were.

The sight that beheld her would have been terrifying to her had she been a human, the feeling that she had earlier seemed fitting with what she was looking at. There was Obito trapped under a giant rock that crushed this left side under it's weight. She is reminded of a time where humans fought each other and spilled their blood like water that washed the earth in its warmth. It had stained her roots and she tasted cooper and misery and pain. At the time she had looked down on them and thought them foolish. _It is the cycle of things_ she had thought. _One is born and lives and dies and returns back to the earth for where it came._ Humans know that they have an expiry date just like everything else and yet they cry out like it's a surprise, a shock, a freeze to the system. But that was before Kakashi and his team and before she learns. Now s _he knows she knows she knows_ that she does not want that for Obito, does not want to see him go back to the earth so soon. (Not without her never telling him that she cares for him even if he will never hear it she wants to say it.) She does not want to see her Kakashi to weep for him. She does not want Rin to be destroyed by this (Rin loves him s _he does she does she does_ Sakura knows even if Rin does not.) She does not want the man that looks like the sun when he smiles to look away and change. She rushed over to him and puts a hand on his cheek that was not underneath the rock. He did not have his eye, his beautiful eye that she wanted him to see her with. There was no Kakashi or Rin or Minato that she sensed nearby, they were alone. Sakura leaned down to his ear and spoke even though she knew he could not hear her (she could hope and wish and pray) "Obito" It was not real words it was more a sigh of his name. She felt him twitch underneath her fingers. _He was alive, he was alive, he was alive._ "Can you hear me?" she asked (pleaded). It was the barest of nods a faint movement of the head but she saw it. Sakura held her breath and tried to rack up some sort of a plan to get him out from under all that rock. "I'm going to help you Obito." Before she could come up with anything she felt a presence coming towards them. Someone who did not feel right, she had the undeniable feeling that she had to hide from this person. Leaning back down she said "Someone is coming. I have to hide but I will come back for you Obito" She hated to leave him but her instinct had never been wrong before. She did not think this person would harm her human but she felt that if she were here this person would know. So Sakura hid behind a tree just before a older man who smelled like death and decay came to the rubble with two creatures that were most certainly not human. They picked up Obito and started walking away while she followed silently after them. She would not leave her Obito behind.

* * *

Sakura followed them down into an underground cavern of sorts. The man had set Obito down and fixed him so he was no longer bleeding. She could feel his heart beating steadily through her mark on his skin. She emerged from her hiding place in the earth (she was a tree who grew in the earth it was a home to her and her kind) after the man and his not human creatures left. She reaches over to wrap her arms around his head when his remaining eye opens up blinking a few times at the harsh yellowish light. His eye gazes around the room not seeing just roaming until it falls on her form. He blinks and stares in her eyes. She can feel her roots turning and twisting and growing as he stares at her. "Can you see me?" Her voice is soft as her cherry blossoms in full bloom but it shatters the silence like an ax to a tree. He jerks in response to the noise that fills the empty air before a tiny nod comes into her vision. _He can see her he can see her he can see her._ The nod must have been to much for him because he lets out a small groan at the movement. She does not want the man who brought him here to come so she shoves her joy, happiness, euphoria over the fact that he can see her when he should not. She seals those feelings in one of her roots near her heart for later. Working quickly and quietly so that the man who smells like death and decay does not come and take her human away she gathers Obito in her arms. _She's touching him she's touching him she's touching him_. He groans from the movement but he manages to stifle the sound. Sakura makes sure she has a good grip on him before she washes her power over him than she is passing through the earth with him pressed firmly to her chest, she feels the vibrations more the hears his intake of breath when they are moving with the earth parting for them. She does not leave a tunnel to be followed instead the dirt rushes up and falls back into place just the way it was before it was disturbed by her. She moves fast until she breaks to the surface in her forest. She lays Obito down next to her tree so that he is cocooned in between her massive roots. He will be safe here. She leans against her tree body to absorb some of her power, she had spent a large amount surrounding Obito in it so that she could transport him through the ground. He looked up at her with confusion in his pain filled eye. After so long of wanting to talk to him, to anyone, all she was left with was silence on the tip of her tongue. Slowly crouching beside his face as not to frighten the boy she whispered her earlier thoughts "You'll be safe here. No harm shall befall you" She lifted the corners of her mouth, she knew that humans did that to convey positive emotions. She believed they called it a smile. (she was a tree why should she know how to smile?) He just looked at her, perhaps she was doing it wrong she had no way of knowing. She watched as he licked his lips than he talks to her for the first time his voice low and gravely,

"You're beautiful."

She blinks.

* * *

Obito was in pain so much pain that he blacked out after hearing a woman's voice talking to him while he was trapped underneath a rock. He thinks that had he imagined it until he wakes up and sees her again, When he opens his eye he blinks a few time to get used to the harsh light. His eye wanders around the room looking to see if anyone is in here. It does not look like he is in the leaf hospital. He does not attempt to move in fear that the pain he is in now will worsen. As his eye continues it's search of the room he stops when he sees a blurry form. He blinks. Then blinks again because he is sure he must be imagining things. There cannot be someone here, he felt no presence at all. But there is. She has long pink hair that flows down past her waist and a weird diamond shaped mark on her forehead. He thinks her eyes are green or maybe a grey it's too dark and he's in too much pain to really see. He thinks that maybe she is not real, maybe he made her up maybe she's part pain and fear and tired. But the she speaks "Can you see me?" Her voice is so unexpectedly soft like moss that grows on trees and he jerks cause he sure as hell would not have made her up only to say that. So he finds himself nodding. It almost takes his breath away as pain blinds him, he lets out a groan or a whimper or a whisper of pain and she hears. Next thing he know this maybe made up woman picks him up and he's feeling peace and nature and warmth wrap itself around him like a shield. It eats away at his pain making it bearable to be touched. Before he can enjoy this new development of no pain she walks through the wall into the earth. He inhales sharply as this woman holds him to her chest and glides, swims, moves through the dirt with it tripping over itself to move out of her way. He does not have time for the fact that he is moving through the freaking earth and being held by the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen ( _sorry Rin but you're still number one in my heart_ he thinks) they are going up and then they break the surface. For a moment all he can see is blue sky and pink. Than he focus and sees that the pink is cherry blossoms. He feels himself being laid down gently, she cradles his head when she puts it down. He is placed in between giant roots feels soft moss and grass underneath his back. He is in relatively no pain. How is that possible? Pushing that thought aside because it hurts his head to think about and he's in almost no pain so why question it? Obito sees the woman slowly kneel down next to him. He realizes that her eyes are in fact green like he first thought, they remind him of the grass and spring and leaves after rain.

"You'll be safe here. No harm shall befall you" _Her voice her voice her voice._ Just as he thinks he cannot handle anymore of her unnatural beauty and peace and calm she smiles with lips closed. It's small almost like she does not know how or what she is doing. Even though it's just a smile he almost breaks. He thinks that he knows her, she is familiar to him, like he has known her for a very long time. She looks so breathtaking and he's so happy that she saved him and he's in no pain that he has to tell her. So he licks his lips and says,

"You're beautiful."

She blinks down at him. He blushes because he was going to thank her but that slipped past his lips before he knew what was happening. She tilts her head in a very obvious way that she does not understand so she just smiles again.

"Obito" She smiles like that is an answer. Now it is his turn to blink, how does she know his name? He might as well ask her it does not seem like she will harm him and he feels safe and warm and at peace.

"How do you know my name?"

She pauses then moves so that he does not have to talk to her out of the corner of his eye. This new position has her leaning across him and he is look up at her as her face is directly above his. He blushes what he thinks is bright red. She does not seem to notice.

"You are Obito. You are friends with Kakashi and Rin and Minato." She radiates happy when she speaks their names and somehow he feels it like it is his own. Than what she said sinks in. Oh my god, Rin, Kakashi and Minato-Sensei! He has to get back to them now.  
"I have to get back to the village. I need to know if they are alright!" He needs to go back now but she just smiles again trying to calm him.

"I am sorry but you must stay here just a little while longer. I am healing you."

"Healing me?" He is confused he does not see any green glow like the medical ninja's use in healing.

She nods, "Yes my roots are healing you right now so you must stay here until they are done."

Roots? Healing roots? He is so confused but she does not seem like she is lying to him or is trying to hurt him. He will wait awhile.

"Minato is just fine. Rin has some scraps but she is fine as well. Kakashi is in pain but not life threatening." This calms him down.

"How do you know this? Did you speak with them?" His voice is hoarse, he is thirsty and tired oh so very tired.

She shakes her head, "I can feel them like I can feel you. I have never spoken to any of them." She reaches beside him, he can't see from his position but he does not have to wait long. She brings her cupped hands to his lips and drips water down. It tastes sweet almost like flowers."You are the first human I have spoken to in a very very long time."

He does not know what to say to that so he asks another question. "What's your name?"

"I do not have a name like humans do but some once called me Sakura." It fits her so well, it is like the name is her and she is the name.

He smiles at her as well as he can and says softly as he grows sleepy, "Sakura that's a nice name." Than he was asleep dreaming about pink cherry blossoms and the four humans that she loved.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR:

Mourning and The Scent of Dying Flowers

Kakashi should have been the one to die. At least that's what he thought ever since he left Obito to die under the rock that should have killed him. When they had gotten back to the village they had to go to the hospital to get checked out, Minato-Sensei had to order him to go, he had to have his eye checked out. The doctor had said that the wound across his left eye would scar, there was nothing he could do he said, but he looked like he was okay and could be discharged. So he was with a bandaged eye, a bottle of medicine he was told to take twice daily for two weeks and an appointment (which he would not be attending, he was fine thank you very much) for next month. Minato-Sensei had gone to tell the Hokage what happened while Rin was somewhere in the hospital getting herself looked at. He left as soon as he was discharged, he knew Rin was alright he had made sure that she had not been hurt. As soon as Kakashi had gotten to his apartment he wrote his report for the Hokage about his mission after he delivering it with Minato-Sensei still there looking like he wanted to ask Kakashi _just want in the heck he thought he was doing here and not in the hospital_ but the Hokage had given him a slight shake of the head then turned and silently took the sheet from Kakashi's awaiting hands. The Hokage gave a sad smile than Kakashi was out of the room and left wandering the streets. He had no idea what he was suppose to do now. He did not want to go home just yet to empty rooms and walls and thoughts. He let his feet wander around until he looked up and saw that he was standing on the edge of the forest that he walks through to go to training. His feet must have carried him to where his thoughts and wishes and prayers wanted him to be. He could walk through the trees and end up at the clearing where he meets with Minato-Sensei and Rin and Obito. Only there was nothing left for him in the clearing, Minato-Sensei was on the other end of the village, Rin was in the hospital and Obito was dead. There were no miracles waiting for him there only ghosts that wore goggles so he turned and went back home like the coward he was.

* * *

Three days after the mission Obito was declared dead and they had a funeral. There was no body that they could find but 'that could have been a number of reasons' they told him. Kakashi did not question it, it was not his job. That all lead to this moment where Rin was sobbing quietly next to him holding on to Minato-Sensei's sleeve like it was a life jacket in the middle of the ocean. Perhaps it was to her, this grief certainly felt like a whole ocean. Only now the ocean had evaporated leaving a gaping hole where his heart once was. Minato-Sensei wrapped an arm around the crying girl with a forlorn look on his face. Kakashi kept his eye (not Obito's it was still bandaged) on the head stone with his teammates, rival _, friends_ name on it. People started making their way out of the cemetery until it was just Minato-Sensei, Rin and him left. He could vaguely hear them talking quietly to themselves, they could have been talking to him or even about him and he would not have heard. He was consumed by the thoughts of goggles, smiles and headstones.

* * *

He does not remember how long he stood in front of Obito's grave but it was dusk when he found himself walking (it felt like stumbling in his mind he was always stumbling since Obito died it was like someone had ripped off a leg and he could not get his balance again) to the forest. Kakashi was too tired to put in too much thought about why he kept finding himself there. He put a hand out and touched the a tree closest to him. _Why did Obito have to die?_ he thought. As if to comfort him a wave of cherry blossom petals came circling around him on a breeze. They felt soft and he was warm and calm and at peace. Closing his eye he breathed in the scent of flowers and earth and nature before he was up and leaving again for his empty apartment. He did not deserve peace and calm and warmth. Obito was dead because of him and he needed to suffer for it.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE:  
Rebirth and Replanting

Obito blinked against the soft pink light that hit his eyes. Wait how could he see out of two eyes if he was only suppose to have one? That did not make any sense to him. Neither did the fact that he could twitch his right hand and leg. He should not have his right arm and leg, even if he was not a medical ninja he knew that there would have been no way to save them after they had been crushed like that. He breathed in the smell of dirt and cherry blossoms and fresh grass. He was not in any pain, only discomfort on his right side and his left eye (which should not exist because it was now Kakashi's) but it was all bearable. He had some worse training day pains then what he was feeling now.

"Obito" A voice as soft as a summer breeze floated past his ears.

He blinked and saw the woman, Sakura he remembered her telling him, standing before him. Obito did not let out a yelp because he was a ninja and ninja did not get scared and he was sticking to that story. She was leaning over him again just like she had earlier before he fell asleep.

"Ummh Sakura what's going on? Where am I?" To say that Obito was confused so the understatement of his whole life, he had never been so out of the loop and to add to all the Sakura was beautiful and familiar and he does not understand.

"You are in my roots, I am almost finished healing you." She blinked down at him.

"Roots? Healing me?" He questioned.

"Yes" She answered

Well she certainly helped clear all that up. He chucked all that limited information away, he now had just one more question that was weighing on his mind.

"Sakura," he began "why do I feel like.." Obito stumbled for the words he was looking for, tripping over them like stones on a path before him "like I know you? You feel very familiar to me, why is that?"

She blinked and tilted her head as she peered down at him . "You have some of me in you." That made about as much sense as when Minato-Sensei first explained chakra to him. He had some of her in him? He blushed brighter then he already was at the thoughts that came into his head.

"I don't understand." He whispered to her. A flash of something went by in her green eyes as he looked up at her. Obito felt that he had said something wrong so he scrambled to find a way to fix it, to change it, to reverse it. (He did not like that he may of hurt her or disappointed her, _why why why_ was that?) He reached up to touch his fingers on her cheek, watching as she stilled in an unnatural way when his hand started to move closer. His fingertips brushed her skin and sent a shiver down to his body. As Obito looked into her green eyes he felt a joy that could not have been his own, it was muted somehow like being underwater but it did not make it hard for him to feel it. He took his hand away from her too pale skin and felt the quiet joy tap off and then he was left with the echo of it. It seeped into his skin, his bones, his being.

"Obito" Sakura whispered into the air between them.

"What was that?" Even though he asked he felt that he already knew the answer.

"What you humans call feelings, you felt mine and I felt yours."

What did one do with a response like that. He had somehow felt her emotions and she felt his.

"You're not human, are you Sakura?"

He was not surprised when she said, "No, Obito, I am not human."

* * *

Sakura spends an eternity watching as Obito sleeps below her, she wonders if this is a dream like what she has once heard about by humans walking by her. Her kind do not have 'dreams' like Obito's kind do, Sakura's kind does not need to sleep, they are nature and nature exists at all times. She can not believe that Obito not only can see her but he reached out and touched her. Her joy was almost as tall as she was, she could feel her happiness from the tips of her roots to the tops of her leaves. It caused her blossoms to brighten and her branches to grow longer. She was _happy happy happy_. As if he could hear her thoughts Obito groaned and blinked his eyes. Sakura watched him from her branch that she was laying on as he slowly sat up. She had nestled him deep in her roots so that it was easier to heal him and keep him safe while he slept because he could not defend himself; Sakura knew that humans were so fragile and easy to break. She had also made sure that there was plenty of soft moss and grass for him to lay on, she knew from watching humans that they could become uncomfortable if they slept someplace hard for a long period of time. "Sakura?" Obito called out. It seemed that he had not noticed her in the branches yet.

"Obito" She said from her place as she hopped down landing softly beside him. She loved when he said her name, it may it more real that he could see her and speak to her. She also loved to say his name because she could and he would hear her and it made her blossoms flutter around her center.

He jumped when she landed next to him and she smiled close lipped at him. "Obito" she repeated. He smiled up at her, Sakura could not believe that shining grin was for her, _he was smiling at her he was smiling at her he was smiling at her_. "I have healed you as much as I can" She could taste sunshine and dew fall and the earth. Her branches could touch the clouds with how happy she was.

Then he frowned and looked away from her. Had she done something wrong? It was very possible with the limited knowledge that she knew about humans but she had only told him that she had healed him because she thought that he would be happy. Maybe he was upset with her not being able to stop the scarring on his right side. "I'm sorry that I could not heal all of you, I tried to fix the marks on your skin but I could not." Sakura no longer felt happy she had let down Obito and that made her feel like broken branches and bad tasting water and the cold seeping into her roots.

"Am I dead?" Obito asked to the ground "I think I am dead because you said you're not human and I don't hurt anyway even though I know I should and I can see out of both my eyes. So I must be dead right? And you're here to take me away."

She blinked then blinked again at the small form a few feat away from her. She was confused and she had seen humans blink in order to communicate that they did not understand; she became interested in the act and when she remembered it she would practice. Obito did not look at her so she put her hand on the bottom of his chin and forced him to look up. Sakura smiled softly at him, humans did that to reassure others she recalled, "no Obito you are not done this cycle yet. The reason you are not in pain is that I have healed you and absorbed your pain into my bark." She paused and rearranged her words so that she could make him understand. "I have given you limbs made from pieces of me to replace the ones that you have lost and have given you a new eye." Would he understand? Humans were terribly confusing to her she did not want Obito to be upset with her. "I tried my best to to take all the marks off your skin but I could not." She dropped her hands into her lap and lowered her head to the ground between them "I am sorry." She was _sorry sorry sorry_ her whole being was trying to correct the mistake, trying to rewinding to the moment that Obito smiled.

* * *

"I am sorry." Sakura whispered to him. Obito is staring at the top of her head as she continues to look at the ground still sitting in that unnatural stillness that he has grown accustom to seeing. His mind feels a million miles away into the stars in the the sky while he dimly lets his eyes wander over her white yukata with pretty pale cherry blossoms dancing on the sleeve to her hands that have left little scratches in the earth. A part of him realizes that he must have upset her again but another part – a huge part – of him is still reeling from the information she has given him. He is not dead and that's crazy but that must mean he can see Rin again. His eyes widen, Rin, he can see Rin again and Minato-Sensei and Kakashi. He can go home. Obito is about to open his mouth to speak, he's not sure what he intended to say when Sakura quickly shifts her head up and looks behind her. She looks back at him and stands up, "Come Obito" her voice is soft and woven into his mind so that he might never forget its beauty.

She hold out a hand for him and he uses it to help himself up. He might no longer be in pain but his muscles feel like he has not moved in a long time and the ground feels wobbly underneath his bare feet. It is then that he realizes he is only wearing his pants and has no shirt or shoes on; it is also the same time that he has a chance to see his right arm and leg. He blinks at what he sees because that cannot be real. His arm and leg cannot be made out of...tree? This is the weirdest thing ever especially as he recalls Sakura telling him she made him limbs out of herself. He did not really understand what she had meant when she said it and now so even more confused. He pushed it all to the back of his mind to sort out later as he felt Sakura pull him forward.

It was not as hard as Obito would have thought it would be to walk with wooded leg. Besides the first few steps and stumbles it was okay and with the help of Sakura he was fine. They seemed to be going through the forest to some place and every time he went to ask where they were going he had the distinct feeling that Sakura was concentrating on something and he had not wanted to bother her. Obito did not feel that she was going to hurt him, she had healed him so why would she? So he was content to follow after her. She kept the pace slow and her feet were silent as they hit the leave littered ground.

The trees became less dense and more spread out as they continued to walk in silence. Obito was so in his thoughts about where they were going and how beautiful the forest was that he ran into Sakura's back when she had stopped walking. Fumbling back he went to apologize when he looked behind her and saw his team. His heart leapt to his throat as he took a couple unsteady steps forward out of the tree line and he had to fight the urge to either yell in happiness or cry because he never thought he would have seen them again after the rock fell on him. Before he could chose to do anything Rin had turned to say something to Kakashi when she caught sight of him; her eyes widened and filled with tears before she screamed his name at the top of her lugs and started to run towards him.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

The Dead Come Back to Life and the Cherry Blossom Spirit

Rin had been walking with Kakashi and Minato-Sensei by the edge of the forest for a walk when she spotted felt something stirring in her heart. For some unknown reason she had the desire to look at the forest, it was like something was calling her to look over there and she will forever be glad that she did. As soon as her eyes came in contact with Obito's she screamed his name and went barreling to him. _He was alive he was alive he was alive._ Tears streaked down her cheeks as she stopped in front of the boy that was her classmate, teammate, friend. Oh Obito was _alive_ and she was so very very happy. Rin felt Kakashi and Minato-Sensei come up beside her in a flash and she knew they were both as confused and happy and worried as she was. Obito stepped out of the shade of the trees and that's when Rin and the rest of Team 7 see the damage that he had taken. His whole right side was a mixture of scars and what looked like wood as well as his left eye being a brilliant shade of green so unlike his other brown eye. Her hands came up to cover her mouth as she took in all the damage the rock had done to his body.

"Miss me?" Obito let out a small chuckle as he rubbed the back on his neck with his flesh arm.

That was just so typical Obito that Rin brush out crying in earnest.

"We thought you were dead." She wailed at him.

He dropped his smile and looked at the ground "I thought I was too. I'm sorry for worrying you."

Minato-Sensei stepped forward and asked, "Are you okay Obito?"

He blinked up at him and Rin could see that his eyes were watering, "Yea just a little sore."

"All the same I want to get you to the hospital to get you looked out." What Minato-Sensei didn't say but they all could hear was _the rocks would have done massive damage to the inside of his body_. "Kakashi I want you to go inform the Hokage and meet us at the hospital." Minato-Sensei instructed Kakashi.

As Minato-Sensei and Kakashi were talking Rin watched as Obito twisted to look behind him interested in what he was looking for she wiped her eyes and peered behind him but saw nothing.

"What are you looking at Obito?" She questioned.

It took him a long time to answer and she began to think he either didn't hear him or was not going to answer her when he whispered, "she's gone."

He sounded so heart broken like he just lost a piece of something important that Rin worried he might go back into the forest that he came out of.

(/)

Kakashi was still in shock. He was in shock when he saw Obito and he was in shock when Obito spoke. He was still in shock when they took him to the hospital to get checked out and now he was sitting in a white room with Minato-Sensei and Rin with Obito in a bed surrounded by a couple doctors and nurses. He could not believe that Obito was alive and yet here he was right in front of him, the person who gave him his eye and his life. Rin was beside him on the couch and he could see Minato-Sensei standing just to the side of her.

"I can't believe he's alive." Rin whispered as tears ran freely down her cheeks. He was fairly sure that she did not know she was still crying but made no move to tell her himself. Minato-Sensei put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay Obito came back to us and we should be happy." Minato-Sensei flashed her that smile that was almost as blinding as the sun down at her and Rin responded with a small one of her own.

Minato-Sensei cleared his throat as the doctors and nurses left the room as the Third Hokage entered the room "Do you remember what happened?" the Third asked to the now brown and green eyed boy.

"Yes" Obito nodded and Kakashi felt his hands tighten and his left eye burned and itched and sent soaring heat into his skull; a constant reminder that he failed. "I blacked out after more of the rocks fell on me but I woke up in some sort of underground cave of sorts and there was..."Obito took a shaky breath as he continued, "a old man but he seemed wrong like there was something really wrong with him but I was in too much pain to hear most of what he said but I do remember him telling me that I owed him for saving me and that I was going to help him. He had these...I don't know what to called them creatures maybe? They certainly were not human." Obito paused to collect his thoughts and Kakashi felt a sense of dread coming over him, Obito had been alive and in pain and Kakashi had done nothing to help him.

"Anyway I don't know how long I was awake before I passed out again. When I woke up I was in a different room and I thought I was alone. But there was a women there. I thought I imagined her up with the amount of pain I was in but she was real and one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen." The tips of his cheeks took a shade of pink at the mention of this.

"What happened after?" The Third prompted him after he stopped for a while.

"She picked me up and carried me through the earth to the surface." Kakashi was right he had a bad feeling about this.

Obito stared at his hands as he spoke about what happened to him. He didn't think that the others would believe him, his story sounded so far fetched. But he paddled along because he was a ninja and it was his job to inform the Hokage what had happened after he asked.

"When we got to the surface there was this giant cherry tree and she set me on the ground. She told me that I was safe and no one would hurt me, she also knew my name and said that she knew Minato-Sensei and Rin and Kakashi as well." At the reminder of this he looked up at his team. He was _so grateful so grateful so grateful_ that he was with them again and that they were safe and unharmed and _here_.

"She told me that everyone was safe and not badly hurt when I said I had to get back to my team. She also told me that I couldn't leave yet because she was healing me. I'm not sure how she did it and when I asked she said that her roots were healing me and that she put some of her in me to create my leg and arm." Obito grew quiet again.

The Third took this as his chance to inquire, "can you describe what this women looked like?"

Obito closed his eyes and he could see her again as clear as the glass of water on the table beside his bed. "She had long pink hair that was nearly as long as she was tall and she had green eyes. Kinda like grass or the colour of leaves green. She told me that she is called Sakura and she also told me that she's not human." He opened his eyes and looked at the Third, Obito willed him to believe what he spoke was true.

"I believe you." The Hokage said and there was a sudden relief in Obito that he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "I actually think I know what you saw and I believe that you all might have a connection to her."

Obito blinked a few times and was tempted to wipe his ears to make sure he heard right.

"What is it Lord Third?" Minato-Sensei asked.

"There were stories passed down from the first Hokage. Stories about a pink haired women who lived in a tree that gave him his power over wood." Everyone drew in a breath at that. "This women was said to be something other then human and very rarely was seen by people. In fact it has been generations since she has been seen. It seems she must have taken a fancy to you." At this the Third came over to his bed and looked at him. Obito didn't really know what to do with this new information. "Come on, lets go see if we can find her shall we?"

(/)

The group moved silently through the forest an atmosphere of anticipation and unease all rumbled together in a cloud that hung around them. Kakashi wasn't sure what he was feeling but he was a ninja and his Hokage told him to follow so follow he will. Besides he was looking forward to getting answers about this mysterious women who saved Obito and gave him limbs and an eye. If Kakashi was anyone other then himself he would have winced at the reminder of rocks blood and pain but as it was Kakashi was Kakashi and he learned to keep his feelings in check a long time ago. He followed along a little behind the group watching as Rin kept Obito by her side the whole time in front of him and Minato-Sensei and The Third leading the group through the trees.

It was around what Kakashi guessed was the middle of the forest or as middle as one could get when the Third stopped in front of a giant cherry tree. It was an ancient tree with old roots the size of buildings spilling out of the ground in parts where they grew to close to the surface. Branches twisted and reached out in all directions with bursting pink blossoms that encases the entire top half of the tree. It was something that had Kakashi wanting to pull the fabric covering his _Obito's Obito's Obito's_ sharingan eye to memorize the way the light filtered through the green leaves and the petals that floated down softly onto the ground, adding to the pile the swirled around their group by a summer breeze that brought to him the earthly scent of the flowers. How in the world had Kakashi never taken the time to look at this tree before?

"Ah yes here we are." The Third's voice brought Kakashi back to what they were doing here, it seemed that Rin and Minato-Sensei were dazed as well. "Obito, can you see her?"

Obito moved his eyes around the area and shook his head to the Hokage. Kakashi had already looked for any sign of this women that had saved his team mate but found nothing. "Obito, could you perhaps call her down here? I would very much like to talk to her." The Third questioned.

He nodded and took a step forward, "Sakura?" His green and brown eye looking around. "Its Obito...from earlier...who you ah saved...?" Yea the idiot was still Obito, Kakashi thought.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN  
A Vision of the Cherry Blossoms and Their Keepers

Sakura knew the moment that the group of humans stepped into her forest that they were coming to see her. Which was odd to her because did she not just hand them back Obito? She had made Obito upset with her and she knew humans held onto feelings such as that which made it hard for her to understand just why he would be calling out to her from where he stood on the ground. Maybe she should give up on trying to understand why humans do what they do.

Sakura gathered up some courage in her arms and dropped down landing on the pink petals that littered the ground with a soft thump. Obito jumped back with a sharp screech and would have fallen if he had not regained his balance just before.

"Ah so you must be miss Sakura." Sakura turned her head, her pink hair swishing against her back silently as she looked at the man who spoke. She supposed he was old by human standards with graying hair, his manner reminded her of an old oak tree that has with stood the beatings of many storms and has still stood tall at the end of it all.

She blinked. He was looking right at her. He could see her.

In the span of a breath Sakura was in front of him her face inches away. How odd that this human could see her, he had no eye that was blessed by her kind. He looked back at her before smiling and speaking, "Hello, I am the Third Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves."

"You can see me." Her retort came out just as soon as he finished speaking. Hokage, something about it was familiar to her but it did not take precedence over the fact that a human could see her.

"Yes." He said simply, "I have a jutsu that allows me to see your kind." He smiles again, teeth sharp and gentle and brimming with patience that only comes to those who have witnessed the effects of human emotions. The wind around him glowed to her that he was speaking the truth.

Sakura looked over to her other humans. Rin and Minato were there. Kakashi was looking at the Third like he was crazy. It was then that she became aware of the eye he was hiding behind his mask. Oh my, she thought he would be able to see her now. Her Kakashi would be able to see her. She sucked in a breathe even though she did not need air, she was a tree after all, but that was all lost to her over the fact that her Kakashi would be able to see her.

The thought rattled and roared in her head making its presence know with a lighting touch that made her body feel lighter then her petals.

The Third went over to Rin and Minato and started to make some hand seals then said in a commanding voice "Seirei no Bēru" (the veil of the spirits) Sakura could feel a tingling sensation pass over the area. "It will take a few moments but then you will be able to see her." The Third looked at her with thoughtful look on his face, "Kakashi, look around with your sharrigan."

For a moment Sakura did not think he would until he lifted his hand up to pull his mask down and his headband up. _He would be able to see he would be able to see he would be able to see._

(/)

When Kakashi opened his eye he saw the most beautiful being he had ever seen in his whole life. At first he did not think she was real then he turned and saw that everyone else was looking at her too. She looked unearthly like she belonged in a place of magic, a world that was not tainted by the blood that runs in his world.

"You can see me?" Her voice shocked him out of his thoughts. She was looking at him with her green eyes that seemed to look into his soul.

"Yes" No sooner then the words passed out of his lips was she in front of him. One second she was standing away from him and the next breath out she was right in front of him.

Her hand rose to touch his cheek but she stopped right before touching him. He could feel her presence in his being and her smell of cherry blossoms seemed to sink into his skin.

Her eyes lingered on his then flickered to Rin and Minato-Sensei.

"You can see me as well?" She did not move from her place in front of Kakashi as she spoke to his team and Sensei.

"Yes." Minato-Sensei answered while Kakashi believed Rin nodded, he couldn't see because he was too focused on the being in front of him.

"Now that we can all see you I would like to thank you for saving one of our own." The Third's voice shattered the spiritual silence that was cloaked around them.

One moment she, Sakura, was standing in front of him the next she was standing on a low branch on the cherry tree. How had she done that? He had not seen her move and he had his sharrigan eye out.

"Yea I didn't get a chance to say thanks so umm thank you." Obito mumbled to Sakura as soon as he got over the fact that she could somehow teleport without using substation jutsu.

Sakura merely nodded her head staring at him her green eyes a little wide like she couldn't believe what he was saying.

The Third cleared his throat. "I was wondering if I might ask you some questions regarding young Obito here?" She nodded again turning her eyes to the Third before passing over him to look over at where Rin, Minato-Sensei and he were standing.

"I don't know much about your kind and what I do know is mostly from books" The Third confessed, "but I do know that you usually don't involve yourself with humans. Yet that does not seem to be the case here, you went out of your way to save Obito and heal him." He paused letting this sink in, Kakashi had a feeling it was not for Sakura but for them that he was saying this.

Sakura nodded her head again her pink hair gracefully slipping in front of her face but it never seemed to get in the way of her eyes which frequently roamed between them. She held herself unnaturally still, Kakashi couldn't even see her chest rise or fall to take a breath.

"There is one question that is weighting on my mind, how did you heal him? His whole right side looks like its made out of wood of some sort."

She paused in her eye wandering to peer down at Obito who was half skin and half wood "I transplanted a part of myself onto him to grow into his limbs."

Rin who had yet to say a peep spoke up. "Transplanted? I'm sorry I'm not sure I understand."

Sakura frowned. "I cut parts of myself into Obito to resemble what you humans look like. Now it is Obito." Kakashi was sure Rin still didn't understand neither did he but he wasn't about to admit that.

"What are you?" Rin blurted out then blushed and looked down. "Sorry that was rude of me. It's just that Third said your kind and I assume that he meant your not...um..human" She trailed off.

Sakura did not smile nor frown just took it with a neutral gaze and tone replied, "I am not your kind. There is not a word in your tongue that describes what my kin and I are, but I have heard that you humans sometimes call us nymph or spirit dwellers sometimes tree spirit."

No one really expected that apart from the Third and Kakashi thought that Obito did not look as surprised as he thought Rin did.

Obito broke the tense silence by asking, "My eye... how do I have this eye?" Obito held his hand up onto his right eye, the eye that had been given to Kakashi, the eye he should not have. "It feels...different. Like it's..I don't know it's not mine or something. It's different then the leg and arm, they feel like there apart of me just like when I had my original arm and leg."

She paused, "I gave you my eye." That was when Kakashi saw that Obito's eye and Sakura's eyes were the same vibrant green.

"I don't...I don't understand. You have both your eyes don't you?" Obito questioned

At this The Third sucked in a breath. "Oh oh you gave him..." He trailed off then looked at Obito with a kind of wonder. "oh my."

"What? What is it?" Obito said at the same time Rin asked if there was something wrong with Obito and if they needed to get him help.

"No its not bad. I just have never seen this before. There have been writings but that was in the old old days. I never thought I'd ever see her kind let alone see this." The Third responded.

"I gave you my third eye." Sakura spoke from her branch. No one seemed to understand but the Third until they saw Sakura shift her hair to reveal an eye shaped hole on her forehead. "I could not make you an eye so I gave you one of mine instead."

"Why..why would you do that? Just what am I to you that you would do that to yourself?!" Obito was whispering by the end, his heart was in his throat and _he didn't understand he didn't understand he didn't understand_. No one has ever done anything like this before.

"You're Obito," she blinked at him her head tilting to the side "I like Obito."

Obito's face went a brilliant shade of red as he blushed.

(/)

Minato had not expected his day to go the way it had. He could not believe that he was currently standing next to his student one of whom he thought dead and standing in front of him was a creature of another world who just happened to take affection of his student and help him when he himself could not. He could only watch in wonder as the this being that he knew almost nothing about speak to them about how she had sacrificed for him student.

"I like Obito" Sakura said making Obito resemble a rose more then a boy. If it were any other situation Minato might have been tempted to laugh at his students current predicament.

With her head still tilted Sakura continued, "I would do the same for Rin and Minato" She paused her green eyes flirting over to rest on Kakashi's "and for Kakashi. I hold affection for you all."

Minato could almost feel himself blush at the blatant statement but had a lot of training in holding his composure. The Third eye smiled and said, "Well I will leave and let you guys get better acquainted. I know team 7 is in good hands. Minato I expect a report after you get back." With a wave goodbye he was gone leaving just a stirring of petals in his place.

Minato cleared his throat, "So how exactly do you know us miss Sakura?"

"I have been watching you."

Minato blinked, "Ah I see and when did you first..ah meet us?"

"I have no concept of human time but what you call the sun has rested and risen many a time."

Sakura jumped down from her branch and stood by the base of the tree looking Minato in the eyes, "May I touch you?"

This made him a light dusting of pink blossom on his cheeks and he stammered out a "Wwwhat?

"I have never touched a human before aside from Obito and I am curious."

"...Sure." Minato felt himself accepting. She walked slowly over to him treating him almost like a deer that could be easily spooked. When she stood in front of him she placed her hand on his cheek and Minato could she her eyes light up in a strange sense of wonder and in that moment all his embarrassment evaporated. She reminded him of a little child finding something for the first time, her touch was soft against his skin kind of like a how a breeze felt. "It is...strange" she said in a soft voice "that I would become so taken with your kind after so long of avoiding you."

"Why do you like us?" Rin questioned, "You seem to care a great deal to go as far as you have for Obito and I was wondering why? Why us?"

Sakura pulled her hand away from Minato's cheek and looked down at Rin. "It was Kakashi." At this the one in question look completely baffled. "He walked by me once and I was never curious before about you humans but when I saw him he made me want to know more. So I followed him when he walked by me again to see the rest of you. When I first saw you I was curious about the way you acted together. The only humans I have seen spill each others blood when they meet another of your kind. But when I saw you, you did not do anything that I have seen before. I was drawn to you four after that and watched out for you. I began to care for you." She turned so that she could see all four of them, "I was taken by you and how you cared for one another and I found myself thinking that I wanted to be apart of it. Even if you would never see me." There was a long pause that did not seem awkward just one of thinking and reflecting.

"Okay so basically you were spying on us?" Obito chuckled out nervously

"I do not know the meaning of this word 'spying'."

"It's like umm like when... oh never mind its not that important...Do you think it would be okay if we ask you some questions?" At Sakura's nod he continued "So you said that your a...a..." He fumbled for the word that she had used.

"Nymph." Kakashi cut in, "You said you were a nymph what does that mean?"


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

A Spirit and a Human and Someone Other

It takes some time, but Sakura tries her best to explain things from her world, she's never had to do that before. The only beings she has contact with are like her and they do not need speech to communication, so it is a difficult task for her to verbally communicate in their tongue in a way that they might understand.

"Spirit dweller is another term for a being like me. I am this cherry blossom tree." She gestures to her tree form, "My kind is tied to a living thing in nature. As we grow, we become more self-aware and start to take on this form."

"Wow! So, you're like a tree and a human at the same time?! Do you haunt your tree? Are you a ghost?!" Obito is gushing and Sakura pats his head.

 _He is a good boy_ she thinks.

Minato thinks this is going to be a long day.

(/)

From then on Sakura spends every moment that Team 7 is in the forest with them; and they seem to train all the time in the clearing in her forest to be near her. She likes to sit on the side and grow flowers, she'll make flower crowns that Rin had shown her one day and give them to her humans. Kakashi never wore his but he always took it when she offered his silver and pink crown.

 _It makes her happy happy happy and bloom bright pink blossoms that flutter in her branches._

(/)

On a day that is slightly overcast, days that Sakura clenches close to her chest because it can mean rain and maybe that'll mean she'll get a storm to watch and think of Kakashi while Team 7 is in their village tucked away in little dead tree and stone dens ( _they might be houses_ she thinks, _that's what Rin was telling her when Minato supervised Kakashi's and Obito's spar_ ) Team 7 decides to sit under her branches where she can send an echo of warmth in the area around her trunk to chase away the chill. Sakura asks questions to her humans she's never been around humans this close to talk to let alone feel comfortable around.

( _you live in what is called a village? what is a thing called a bed? you carve faces into rocks, why? do ghosts live under the things that you sleep on and chase away the things called bad dreams?)_

"Did I say something wrong? Or do you not know?" Sakura questions.

They all laugh at her and she spends the rest of the day and night still not knowing the answer to her question.

(/)

Minato mentions having dinner with a woman named Kushina the night before and the name stirs something in the deep reaches of her root-based memories.

"Kushina Uzumaki", Rin tells her when she sees Sakura puzzle, "is Minato-sensei's crush." He turns bright red like sunsets in the summer seasons and he shakes his head in a negative gesture.

"What is a crush?" Sakura thinks that it cannot be humans crushing other humans, but one never knows with their kind so it's safer to just ask now instead of misunderstanding.

"It's umm someone who you like, uh people sometimes call it a crush." Rin's cheek turns a bit into her cherry blossom's color which Sakura has learned can sometimes mean different things like embarrassment (which took a long time for her humans to explain to her because it was something so completely foreign that she had absolutely no idea what it could be). So, she doesn't say anything about that.

"I like Rin does that mean I have a crush on you? And I like Obito and Kakashi and Minato." As she says this all her humans turn shades of reds and pinks; oh, she must have said something wrong again.

"Uh no umm a crush is like someone who you _like_ like." Obito says then pulls a thinking face on with scrunched up eyebrows, "Its someone you love or could fall in love with. And not in a family way but as in I want to stay with this person forever and hold their hand and make them smile and listen to the things that upset them and and." Obito continues no longer red but trying to answer in a way that Sakura will understand.

"a crush is someone that you think about a lot when your alone and sometimes you can't stop thinking about them even if you wanted to."

Oh, _oh_ she thinks as she watches him glance at Rin and then she just knows, knows in a way that is wholly unhuman, that Obito loves Rin in the way that Sakura loves Kakashi. In an all-consuming, overwhelming way that they would sacrifice their own life to safeguard a happy future for them, even if it meant seeing them with another.

 _My heart,_ she thinks, _my heart hurts for him._

She steps up and gently pets Obito's curls smoothing away the ends that stick up. "You are a very kind human Obito, I thank you for explaining it to me I think I understand now." She smiles in a way that she hasn't before not all mimicked but in a reflection to her gratefulness.

"So, then this Kushina is someone that Minato cares for a great deal?" She asks the younger humans as Minato stutters.

"Yea he loves her, and she loves him but their too dumb to say anything about it." Kakashi rumbles evenly.

Minato again tries to protest but he's not really been in the conversation since the beginning anyway so they all go on ignoring him.

"I should like to meet her, she must be something if Minato has a crush on her. He's a very kind human and I would like it if she is too." Then she looks at the man in question, "can you bring her?"

He sighs deeply and mumbles out something along the lines of, 'doesn't seem like I have much of a choice so yea I guess."

(/)

Minato sends the other three off to go find Kushina, _probably getting ramen_ he says shyly, then turns to Sakura who is sitting on a low branch on her tree body and swings her legs in a way she has seen Obito and Rin do on occasion.

"You humans terribly confuse me, you think one thing but say another does it not get unbearable to not connect?"

He looks at her for a long moment in silence, which Sakura will never mind she understands wrapping oneself in the roots of one's mind to think and wonder and pounder, to be able to grasp and understand, she does it often.

 _(Silence is not something she finds scary which seems to be the opposite for the humans she has encountered_.)

"Yes," he says slowly "I think you're right Sakura, it does become unbearable yet somehow we still live like that."


End file.
